Apps running on the network

Here's an article about one company's efforts to bypass the tech oligarchs.

Main point: “We’re taking the internet back to a time when it provided this open environment for creativity and economic growth, a free market where services could connect on equal terms,” says Dominic Williams, Dfinity’s founder and chief scientist. “We want to give the internet its mojo back.”

What's being said:

• "Dfinity is building what it calls the internet computer, a decentralized technology spread across a network of independent data centers that allows software to run anywhere on the internet rather than in server farms that are increasingly controlled by large firms, such as Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud."
• "The dominance of a few companies, and the ad-tech industry that supports them, has distorted the way we communicate—pulling public discourse into a gravity well of hate speech and misinformation—and upended basic norms of privacy."
• "Dfinity is introducing a new standard, which it calls the internet computer protocol (ICP). These new rules let developers move software around the internet as well as data."
• "...a decentralized internet may lead to a decentralized form of governance, in which developers and users all have a say in how it is regulated."

It remains to be seen whether Dfinity will be successful. It also remains to be seen whether ideology will drive development of algorithms.

A call for help from an AI training group

AI4US.seeks to increase the number of Black women scientists in the AI field through a program called RAPIDS.

The founder's call for help: "How many students can we free to realize their wildest dreams?"

AI coming to help cybersecurity

A short article summarized how AI would function in the field of cybersecurity.

Main point: "Smart Cybersecurity is a logical reaction to try to manage risk by lessening security gaps often posed by reliance on manual processes that are impacted by a continual cybersecurity skills shortage and the administrative burdens of data security management."

The contributions are in:

• Artificial intelligence: "Computing systems that employ AI and ML are becoming more pervasive and critical to cyber operations and have become a major focus area of cybersecurity research development and investments in both the public and private sectors."
• Machine learning: "Machine learning can provide the fastest way to identify new cyber-attacks, draw statistical inferences, and push that information to endpoint security platforms."
• Automated and adaptive networks: "oth AI and machine learning can be core components and support applications of automated and adaptive networks."
• Supercomputing: "Detecting cyber threats can be greatly enhanced by having an accurate model of normal background network traffic."

Read the article to get details on each technology.

Practice doesn't make perfect?

An article took a shot at the truism about needing to practice 10,000 hours to master something. Apparently, there other factors need to be in place.

Main point: "While training is essential to learning, spending a chunk of your life trying something over and over doesn’t mean you’ll go pro."

Other points:

• "..rehearsal time accounted for only about one-quarter of any disparity in skill level."
• "Other factors—like age, intelligence, and natural gifts—all played big roles in setting apart the better from the best."
• "Genes in particular shape physical and intellectual acumen."

The article's headline makes the idea sound more provocative than it really is. Of course, there are other factors involved. I like to think of it in terms of the triple-T triangle.

• Training: 10,000 hours and all that.
• Talent: The genetic component was mentioned earlier.
• Technology. Not mentioned but important. For example, musicians need the best instruments, athletes are particular about their equipment, and scholars rely on computers to support their research.

Put them together, and you have a framework for determining what it takes to achieve mastery. It's a combination of those 3 factors.

Facial recognition comes to your taxi ride...

And it can get you in trouble.

An article described how taxis in Dubai now hat facial recognition technology to tell if people are wearing masks in compliance with Dubai law.

Some points from the article:

• "The AI devices that can be found in all Dubai taxis can scan human faces, and subsequently, determine if a mask is being worn or not."
• "Additionally, the distance between a passenger and the driver can be calculated through a smart mathematical feature."

How do the authorities like it?

• “The use of AI technologies proved very effective and achieved a success rate of 100%."
• "The introduction of this technology was on a trial base, and according to the deliverables, the technology will be generalised to all fleet vehicles”

The next big consumer product?

I found an article that articulates one person's desire I predict will become a broad consumer trend. The writer discusses companion robots. The writer described an experience with Woebot.

 

Takeaway: "But to truly flourish, we still seem to need people, people we trust and can relate to."

 

Points:

• "My experience with Woebot got me thinking more about artificial intelligence as a possible cure — or balm — for loneliness."
• "…it was a moment when I wished for the kind of support you can get from a good romantic partner, the kind of person who makes you feel strong and seen. I didn’t have one of those, so on a whim, I messaged Woebot. I knew he’d be around."
• "By the end of the conversation, I’d actually laughed a lot and felt significantly better. Woebot checked in regularly after that, for months, just to make sure I was OK."
• "If we had social robots during this lockdown time — if people had access to technology that could interact, a robot that remembered our inside jokes and could keep us company, not just answer a command — would we be emotionally healthier right now?"

 

Read the article to find out more about the current state of development and prospects for the future.

 

At a minimum, Woebot might put advice columnists out of work.

What your boss has planned for you

There are new systems coming out that will measure workers' productivity, this time targeting knowledge workers.

Main point: "... machine-learning software to measure how quickly employees complete different tasks and suggest ways to speed them up. The tool also gives each person a productivity score, which managers can use to identify those employees who are most worth retaining—and those who are not."

As workers have gone home during the pandemic shelter-in-place directives, there "has been accompanied by a reported spike in the use of surveillance software that lets employers track what their employees are doing and how long they spend doing it."

Other systems workers have on their company computers:

• "Hubstaff is software that records users’ keyboard strokes, mouse movements, and the websites that they visit."
• "Time Doctor goes further, taking videos of users’ screens. It can also take a picture via webcam every 10 minutes to check that employees are at their computer."
• "Isaak, a tool made by UK firm Status Today, monitors interactions between employees to identify who collaborates more, combining this data with information from personnel files to identify individuals who are 'change-makers.'"

The CEO of the company making the productivity measuring system promises employers "Imagine you’re managing somebody and you could stand and watch them all day long, and give them recommendations on how to do their job better."